Alt Fuels

LNG or CNG? If that just looks like a jumble of letters to you, we're talking about liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas--and so is the trucking industry. Natural gas has, to a degree, been overlooked in the passenger vehicle industry while companies look towards electrification (in...

While many North Americans may not know it, Brazil presently leads the world in deploying biofuels for road vehicles. Specifically, a majority of cars sold in Brazil--especially lower-priced high-volume models built in the country--can run either on gasoline or pure ethanol. The modern history...

What’s it like to drive on pure ethanol, known as E100, without a drop of gasoline in the car? In the case of the Brazilian Volkswagen Gol, it’s quite unremarkable. Brazil’s most popular small car for 27 years starts, performs, and otherwise behaves just like a gasoline-fueled...

Another hydrogen fueling station opened in southern California yesterday, this one at California State University, Los Angeles. The university's Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility is a part of its program in sustainable energy and transportation technology, and is the largest hydrogen station...

Texas plans to offer rebates to buyers of new electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and natural-gas vehicles.

For many months now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has faced a dilemma: What to do about its rules that millions of gallons of cellulosic ethanol be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply. Now, The Detroit News reports that the agency has decided to accept reality: Supplies of that fuel...

Nine U.S. national parks will deploy clean vehicles as part of an ongoing green initiative.

The number of E85 fueling stations has grown significantly over the past few years, but they're still few and far between.

Give Felix Kramer credit for thinking big. Twelve years ago, he and others founded CalCars, a group dedicated to promoting plug-in hybrid vehicles with large battery packs--and built the world's first plug-in Prius hybrid. Now he and coauthor Gil Friend have published an audacious proposal to buy...

Honda hopes to encourage suppliers to use CNG for their delivery vehicles.

Plant-based diesel has been available for many years now but making a true gasoline-like hydrocarbon from plant oils has proven a lot more difficult. Chemists at the University of California, Davis think they've cracked it, though, using a new technique to make "biogasoline" from plant waste...

A British study claims that wind turbines can last 25 years without the need for upgrades or replacement.

The EPA plans to cut 1.4 billion gallons from its 2014 renewable-fuels target.

Tens of thousands of flights carry millions of passengers around the globe on a daily basis. Needless to say, the environmental impact of this is fairly large--but both airlines and aircraft makers are keen to reduce that impact and lower their own costs, too. Biofuel is the current buzzword in the...

Every so often, Hyundai posts an entry on its "Hyundai Like Sunday" blog, which promotes itself as "Truth, Candor and Conversation." Two months ago, the company's Elizabeth Chun offered some thoughts on its upcoming 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell compact crossover. That vehicle will be offered for...

Toyota revealed a bit more about its plans to offer a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle for sale next year, at a press event held today at the opening of the huge Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company sounded a confident note on the prospects for electric vehicles that use power generated...

Two new studies suggest unorthodox ways to improve the efficiency of solar panels.

Never let it be said that New York City doesn't get everything it can out of its 50 million-plus tourist visitors each year. In this case, it's pedal-powered energy to offset the roughly 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed by the famous lighted ball that drops to signal the New Year. Times...

Ethanol has been a key component of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard since the 2007 passage of the Energy Security and Independence Act. Now, there appears to be a chance that rules requiring minimum volumes of ethanol to be blended into vehicle fuel could be reformed or scrapped altogether in...

Given how familiar most of us are with cars, it's easy to see them as the be-all and end-all when it comes to cleaning up transportation. Reduce fossil fuels, increase electric propulsion, increase use of biofuels, job done. With over a billion cars on roads around the world improving them is...